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The Penfolds "Ultra" Issue
-New releases, including 2004 Grange!
-Tasting notes and pricing
-The fine print, aka allocations and ordering
NEWSFLASH: Will 2009 see the return of our infamous Annual Penfolds Tasting?
Fresh Off
The Boat - The New Releases
May 1st in Australia marks the annual release date for the new
luxury cuvees from Penfolds, a line-up of iconic wines that their marketing geeks
have recently branded as "The Ultras." The celebrated day heralds the new
release of Penfolds Grange as well as fresh vintages from the Penfolds luxury
stable, including the RWT Shiraz, Bin 707 Cabernet, and Yattarna Chardonnay
among others. The Ultras represent the pinnacle of Penfolds winemaking efforts
and are scarce enough to
generate high demand worldwide.
While there is no official release day in
America, Penfolds' parent company has begun a tradition of showing the new
Ultras to the wine trade in May and we have typically put on our annual Penfolds
consumer event shortly thereafter. (More on this later!) This year's trade
tasting took on even more significance than usual, however, as we are seeing
a decrease in our Penfolds allocation, an increase in wholesale
pricing and some rather biblical reports coming from the Australian wine press,
pronouncing the 2004 Grange to be one of the Greatest Vintages Ever Made.
Accordingly, I have included my tasting notes on the wines below.
The Notes
2006 Penfolds Yattarna Chardonnay ($120): Grapes for Yattarna
are typically sourced from the Adelaide Hills, giving the wine medium body on
release. With this vintage, additional fruit from cooler regions in
Tasmania and Henty give the '06 Yattarna a finer structure, suggestive of good
cellaring potential. Despite full French barrel (45% new) and malolactic
fermentation, the oak is scarcely noticed amid the nuances of the fruit.
2005 Penfolds St.
Henri Shiraz ($75): A smashing release! Clearly one of the best wines
in the room, this vintage continues a long march for St. Henri Shiraz from obscurity to
must-have icon status. Each release over the past decade has been better and
better - I don't know if I could handle any more improvement! Pure hedonistic fruit
with no oak (St. Henri is aged in 3000 liter oak casks where Grange sees 100%
new American oak each vintage). Considering the new pricing structures, this is
the seductress and the steal of the lot.
2005 Penfolds Cabernet-Shiraz Cellar Reserve ($80):
Last made in 1993, this rare wine release from Penfolds was previously available at the winery
only. But starting with this vintage, a little made its way into the U.S. The Coonawarra
cabernet component is dominant, showing sweet spices like nutmeg and cinnamon on
the nose and a elegant finish. Barossa shiraz makes up a third of this blend
(modeled after the famous 60A bottling) and is not showing it's power but like
most Penfolds wines, will become apparent in a few years. Little to be had and
already selling for over $200 in Australia (in Aussie dollars).
2006 Penfolds RWT Shiraz ($156): Celebrating its' 10th anniversary, RWT is now
settling into its place in the Penfolds' portfolio. Always balanced and
approachable, there is plenty of fruit offered up in this vintage. 2006 is
shaping up to be a great year for the entire Penfolds range with each wine bold
and forceful, packed with fruit but strong on structure. This RWT follows this
trend.
2006 Penfolds Bin 707 Cabernet ($166): This vintage of 707
continues the tradition of elegant, refined cabernets. The nose is unmistakably
cab, with wafts of herb-tinted fruit and subtle oak spiciness. There's
good acid and tannin structure to provide a tight finish and the backbone needed
for cellaring.
The Grange - A Near Perfect Vintage?
2004 Penfolds Grange ($500): Due to the press and the
price, we thought we'd dedicate Grange its own space. Let's start with the
press. Only Australia has had the chance to weigh in so far and all of it has
been overwhelmingly positive. Writers are awarding scores to this vintage
as close to perfection as I've ever seen - and the writers down under are mighty
stingy when it comes to awarding points.
Click here for reviews. These
reviews will stoke the markets globally, making this a sought after vintage from
the word go. In all my years selling Australian wine, only the 1990 vintage
(Wine Spectator named it "Wine of the Year") has received as much hype as this
release.
So then, what about the wine? There is no denying that the 2004
release is one of the best young Granges I have tried, but it is a
particularly unique style that I don't think has ever been made before. Grange has always been a powerful wine, packed with rich mouthfilling flavors and brash concentration. The 2004, however, is all about
elegance and finesse, a pinpoint wine that continues to reveal another flavor,
another aroma as the glass is nurtured and savored. The high scores for this
release no doubt stem from an appreciation by Australian critics for this
particular style, as opposed to those who may like more powerful, extracted
wine.
In the last two decades, the Grange vintages that captured the
public's attention were the famed 1990 and 1998, both classic powerhouse
releases that are still drinking well. But they have been surpassed time and
time again by neighboring vintages 1991 and 1999, "sleeper" years that on
release were balanced and restrained next to their bolder, more assertive
siblings. Today, the '91 and '99 have that extra dose of nuance and complexity
to make these more understated vintages my favorites. The 2004 is in this mold.
It will not win points for those who want extract and viscosity. There's a
clean, nearly pristine purity of flavor alongside darker notes of spices and pepper,
as well as a rarely seen mineral component. With time, the
wine shows more depth and richness but maintains a sense of tension, as though
poised to explode with flavor. And for those who complain about oaky Australian
wines, you'll barely notice any. Despite 16 months of aging in new American oak,
it's been slurped up by the fruit. Clearly, this is a wine with a long life
ahead of it.
The Pricing
Now, about the pricing. There's no nice way to say it, the prices are up.
Way up. This despite a stronger American dollar. The winery has decided to
maintain a more or less global pricing structure where Grange, for instance, is
similarly priced in both US and Australian dollars. The Penfolds icon wines have
always been a bit undervalued when compared to Australia because of the way each
country taxes their wines (Australia wine levies are based on the wholesale
value of each wine- the higher the price, the higher the tax. U.S. taxes are
based on alcohol levels: a $5 and a $500 dollar wine are taxed at the same
rate.) A couple of years ago, Grange, for example, would sell for over $500
Australian while barely breaking $200 here in the US. This is an attempt, in
part, to rectify this discrepancy. In addition, the demand for these wines has
increased substantially in emerging wine markets and so the winery is adjusting
prices accordingly.
This, unquestionably, sucks. But there's not much the old Jug Shop can
do other than offer you 15% off our normal retail price. Penfolds parent
company Fosters Wine Estates is aware of your predicted pain. By way of
sedative they have promised (are you ready??) to support us in bringing back
the invitation-only Annual Penfolds New Release Tasting with some stellar wines!
More on that to come, but take special note of "invitation only" (hint
hint).
Enough Blather Already, How Do I Order?
Click the link below to download your Penfolds allocation request form, fill
it out, and return it to us ASAP. You'll notice we said "allocation request" rather
than order form. At this point, we have no idea what we're going to receive and
certainly it may arise that there are more requests for wine than wine to fill
them. Therefore, we're taking orders on a first-come, first-filled basis.
We cannot promise you'll receive all you desire, but we'll do our very
best. Please note pricing is 15% off regular retail and will not be
offered again after the pre-sell expiration date. The pre-sale pricing
expires on Friday, June 5th, 2009!!
Click here to download your allocation request from. (If returning by
email, please change the file name, thanks!)
Down Under Discoveries by Chuck Hayward, © May 2009
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